Final Trip: Poland-Ukraine

I was pretty relieved after buying the flight home.  It was a great deal, and I was at a low-point in Prague.  Walking around,  I felt like I had reached my saturation point.  I didn’t want to see any new cities.  No more buildings and sites.  No more different languages.  No more internet cafes.

I figured I would have enough time to see some of Poland and Ukraine and then head back West to see Berlin before flying out.  I got to Krakow and it was a lot like Prague.  The Old Town was a big tourist draw, but there were only some buildings.  I didn’t have any good interactions with people either.  Boring.  Auschwitz-Birkenau was a big highlight though, and made it worth visiting Krakow.

Then I went to Zakopane, Poland to see the Tatras.  Big time tourist town also.  Disappointing and boring.

I got a bus from Zakopane to Pryzemysl, which is on the border of Ukraine.  I thought it would take about 3 hours.  It took 10!!  9:15am-6:30pm.  I was the only one besides the bus driver to go the whole way.  I don’t think it was even that far away.  It’s just that the bus took the really long slow route and stopped everywhere.  And $25.  Shitty.  I was really frustrated and had waves of panic.  Then I’d cool down and think of it as a sightseeing tour.  I rationalized it too as it was a misty, grey day.

I ran into some luck in Pryzemysl.  I went to the train station to check on train times and prices to Lviv, Ukraine.  A Ukrainian guy helped me out and offered to accomodate me in Lviv for a night.  Awesome.  I had a great night with him and his family in a Lviv Soviet-style residential block.  Lots of food and vodka.

Then I got dropped at the train ticket office in Lviv.  Lost and with stupid English, a girl helped me out and got my ticket to Kiev that night.  We also went for a drink.  Really great.  Lots of friends in Lviv.  Too easy